This photo provided by the the Ukrainian family shows them in happier times. Maryna, not in this photo, fled with her daughters, 20-year-old Sofia and 7-year-old Katya and one-year-old son Dima shown here . Image provided with permission to publish

Article by Sue Dickens

Hastings – Opening up her heart and her home, Barbara Spafford is getting ready to welcome a Ukrainian family who fled to safety from the war that is happening in their country. She has a farmhouse about 2 km from the village.

Maryna holding her son Dima, is with her daughters 7-year-old Katya and 20 year-old Sofia. Her husband Sergey and her father (name not provided) to the left are fighting in the war in Ukraine. Image provided with permission to publish

The Ukrainian family is expected to arrive here in about two or three weeks and includes a mother Maryna, her 20-year-old daughter Sofia, her 7-year-old daughter Katya and one-year old son Dima.

Maryna’s father (name not provided) and her dad Sergey, are both fighting in Ukraine against the Russians who invaded their country on Feb. 24.

We asked Spafford why she decided to host a refugee family from Ukraine and she said:. “I just thought it was awful that Putin could go into a country that was very peaceful and a lot like Canada, and so when I saw the images of families in the news… there were pictures of moms walking down the road pushing a stroller, a dog tied to the stroller. Moms were carrying one or two cats as well… when I saw those images, I just cried every day… I would cry watching the news… but I would continue to watch it because I just felt i had to support them you know, somehow,.”

It wasn’t long before she reached out to offer her home.

“I found this group, Ukraine settlement helpers in Ottawa,” Spafford told Trent Hills Now. She provided photos of her farm near Hastings and at one point was connected to a translater in Ohio. It is that same translator who said she knows a family looking to come to Canada…and the rest, well, it has been a series of steps but it is now a reality.

For Spafford it means getting ready to accommodate everyone. Her house has two bedrooms upstairs and a bathroom. Actually she just totally renovated the bathroom so everything in it is new. The one room has a bed that can be used by the mother and her son. The second bedroom, Spafford hopes, will have bunk beds in it. She has put out a request on Facebook asking if anyone has bunk beds to donate.

Word of the family coming here has spread through word-of-mouth and through social media.

As a result Anne Marie Taylor-Powney, well known for always helping others, has put out a request of her own asking for donations. Her daughter Madison began Maddy’s Community Pantry, where donated food and other items are available for free on the front porch of the home in Campbellford, so the family knows all about helping others.

“Let’s show them some love and support. Items like face clothes, Bath Towels, Sheet sets (single and double) and eventually clothes once we know their sizes. Gift cards are also appreciated,” Taylor-Powney posted on Facebook.

This sign was created by Larysa Struk, of Trent Hills, who wrote the family’s names in Ukrainian. She will be able to translate for the family.

Spafford’s offer demonstrates the same giving attitude. The family she will be welcoming into her home are currently in Germany awaiting final approvals for their journey to Canada.

“The mother took her children and they fled to the border from their home in Kharkiv,” said Spafford. Images on the news show the city’s bombed out buildings. Kharkiv is in the northeast part of Ukraine.

BBC is one of the media that has reporters in Ukraine and on March 10, wrote: “In the early days of the invasion, Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine fought back a Russian armoured column. Since then, it has suffered nightly Russian airstrikes and shelling, with dozens of civilians killed and hundreds injured.”

That was several weeks ago.

That was what this Ukrainian family fled from as Russian soldiers invaded the city.

Spafford has been sent a couple of photos of the family she will be hosting.

Anyone wishing to help can reach out to Spafford on her Facebook page or Anne Marie Taylor-Powney who has begun a post on Facebook.

The Ukrainian Canadian Congress has opened up a registry, creating a list for anyone to house or help Ukrainian refugees.

Editor’s notes: There is a family in Campbellford, who will also be hosting a Ukrainian family. Ellen Buck-McFayden has posted that information on Facebook and is asking for donations of clothing etc. That family will be featured in another article once they have arrived and settled in. By the way readers might know Barbara or at least may have seen her at the Campbellford Fair. She has competed in the horse pull competition for years and has two horses on her farm now that she is getting ready to enter as a team in the future.